


like circles in orbit

by badboy_fangirl



Category: Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-01-15
Updated: 2012-01-15
Packaged: 2017-10-29 14:09:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/320757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/badboy_fangirl/pseuds/badboy_fangirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It's not like Caroline starts out knowing she's the only one who can help Stefan forgive himself, but it does end that way.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	like circles in orbit

It's funny; she has a flash of him that first day she met him, when he told her that it was never going to happen between them. She'd believed him (it hurt so much); he'd been telling the truth, after all.

He certainly never thought anything would happen between them (and after that day and his unequivocal statement, she'd been certain, too). But then she became a vampire, and he returned to being a ripper, and the only logical thing was that of course they were going to happen.

It's not like Caroline starts out knowing she's the only one who can help Stefan forgive himself, but it does end that way.

(And she's pleased as punch to be the orchestrator of that.)

 _Take that, Junior Year Stefan who knows nothing and can't see the future._ Of course they were going to happen.

Caroline Forbes stopped being passed over a long time ago.

 

 

He comes home for good after the battle with Klaus claims lives he feels badly about (Rebekah, Matt, almost Damon about twelve times, finally Klaus for good). She's mad at him at first, because regardless of everything, Matt Donovan had been the first boy she'd ever loved, and now he was gone forever, the victim of two merciless chess players who moved him around until he had no purpose anymore.

See, that's the thing: Caroline doesn't expect to fall for Stefan anymore than he expects to fall for her. Their first few interactions after he returns to Mystic Falls involves her staking him and other essential vampire powerplay exchanges.

When he gasps from his prone position on the floor at her feet, "I'm sorry, Caroline! I'm really sorry!" she can tell he actually _is_ , that the Stefan that held her while she sobbed in the bathroom after her first kill is still in there somewhere; so she decides not to make him her last kill.

It's funny; she had to forgive him for herself, for him, for Matt. But mostly, for him.

 

 

It's funny how people end up together, or apart.

Maybe she and Tyler had always been together for the wrong reasons (he wasn't strong enough to be good on his own, she wasn't smart enough to differentiate between lust and love); but when that ends, it doesn't happen between her and Stefan overnight. It doesn't even happen over a year. They pal around, two singles who need eternal partners, but there doesn't seem to be anyone viable.

Then Elena decides she wants to turn because of Damon, and Stefan shows up drunk on Caroline’s doorstep. That's when she realizes he thought, maybe, if he was patient, it might go back to how it had been.

"Some things change," she offers softly, his head in her lap. "Others don't."

He looks up at her, his green eyes clear for someone who can barely walk straight. "I want to be happy for them, but if I do that, I can't be sorry for myself."

Caroline smiles, cups his cheek in her palm. "Hate them today; forgive them tomorrow," she suggests.

He nods and closes his eyes.

 

 

When he kisses her, it surprises her even though it finally clicks inside her that _this_ is what's missing. (See, she'd really thought they'd never happen, even then.)

But they _do_ happen, ever so slowly. One kiss and then months of _that didn't mean anything_ combine with a longing that seems to permeate every interaction they have until Caroline just throws him down on his bed, because, good grief, they are _fucking vampires_ and this pussyfooting around is annoying (not just to Damon, though he's very vocal about it).

But Stefan, being Stefan, turns it slow and soft about halfway through, and Caroline sobs after she comes, because she almost forgot what it was like, to be human. He reminds her, though, because he was always more human than vampire, at least when he was being good.

It's funny; when Stefan is good, he's _very_ good. And that's what she loves about him.

 

 

"Thank you, Caroline," he says on a sunny summer day when they've headed out to the lake for some rest and relaxation.

She looks up from her book and asks, "For what?"

"For being you." He leans over and gently presses his lips to hers.

She just smiles. She doesn't need to tell him he was wrong; he already knows it, and he's corrected it now, and that's all that matters.

It's funny; being a vampire isn't as tragic as one would think.


End file.
